Essay part 3

Klara Sulce # 3

               

Many characters in novels are superior to the outside world’s influences. For instance, Gregor Samsa exemplifies the effect that family and society has on individuals as a whole. In Metamorphosis, Gregor is constantly pressured by his family to provide for them financially. They became so used to him providing for them that once he transforms into an insect, they do not know how to provide for themselves. Had it not been for the Samsa family’s continuous stress put forth on Gregor, his outcome would not have been so appalling.

                Before his metamorphosis, Gregor was faced with working an unpleasant job that left no time for him. The pressure of time and intense monetary ambition of the economy-driven world drives Gregor to feel alienated from himself, as well as his family, through his obligation to providing for them. The frame of a woman he has hung up in his room acts as a companion in Gregor’s alienation from the public realm. This void in his life is the result of the immense amount of hard work he undertakes. Gregor places this unknown woman in a golden frame, symbolizing how he desires the loving intimate relationship that time does not permit him to engage in.  

                Gregor’s family is selfish in many ways and they are the reason for Gregor’s demise. They see gold purely for its monetary value, a perspective from the economically-driven outlook, where value is determined by financial asset instead of one’s spirit. The expression “time is money” summarizes the value that time holds in the economy-driven world.  Once the supply of money became ill, the Samsa family’s true colors were revealed.  This often happens to society as a whole, they become so preoccupied with money that everything else, including family becomes irrelevant in their attempt to achieve happiness and success.  Had his family been more supportive and appreciative of Gregor, his death could have been avoidable.  His family has lost sight of the appreciation of family, a blindness directly caused from living and participating in a society driven by greed.